Prize time

It's that time of the year. While I wasn't overwhelmed by this year's economics winner, I am pretty tickled by the literature (Orhan Pamuk) and peace (Muhammad Yunus) prizes.

Why do these awards please me? Well for starters, I'm always happy when the lit award goes to a writer I've actually read. Not only have I read some of Pamuk's stuff, but I thought it was pretty good (especially Snow) -- a rarity for me and the Nobel winner.

As for the peace prize, how cool is it that they recognized the role of economics in promoting peace and, more generally, prosperity? [I'll admit I'm biased.] As the guys at Marginal Revolution pointed out, though, it's funny that Yunus won the peace prize, yet he would never have been a serious candidate for the economics prize. Plus I was pleased the Nobel folks didn't use this as an opportunity simply to pick a vocal "America critic" as a rebuke to Bush. [Not saying he doesn't need some rebuking (in my opinion), but I'm glad they didn't use the peace prize for that purpose.]

Anyway, ... The forecast has been updated. As usual when I head to the woods, the temps have been revised downward. Now the forecast has lows in the mid- to upper-30s. Might be chilly in the woods tonight. I hope my new sleeping bag is long enough; I'd hate to be sticking out the top tonight. Brrr! Don't worry, I'll give a full report next week.